


The Closer We Get

by fangirlwrites



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged Up, Akuma butt kicking, F/M, Fashion Design, Flirting, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Identity Reveal, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, Miraculous Team, Slow Burn, So much blushing, oblivious children
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-09-01
Packaged: 2019-07-03 15:42:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15821949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirlwrites/pseuds/fangirlwrites
Summary: Marinette had always considered her life relatively straightforward. Go to school. Hang out with friends. Spend time with family. Work on new designs. Even after she became a superhero, she simply added 'Save Paris' to her list. All in all, her life was going pretty well. But as akuma attacks begin to escalate, Marinette finds that her life is definitely not as simple as she once thought. Soon, everything will have to change in order to save the people and the city she loves.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a few things before we start. In this fic, the characters are aged up a few years, around seventeen years old. This fic is true to canon, minus the new miraculous holders in season 2. (Though they might make appearances later, wink wink.)

The hairbrush nearly hit Marinette in the face as she ran out the school doors, looking for a place to transform. Thankfully she staggered back just in time. She scowled at the hairbrush as it clattered across the stairs and into the bushes. She shook her head. Why people were throwing things around during an akuma attack was beyond her.

She hadn’t heard there was an akuma attack happening until after it had been already been out running around Paris for some time. She had been in the library at school, listening to music and working on a project with Alya. They only found out about it because Monsieur Damocles had gone around to all the rooms in the school, making sure everyone was out and on their way home. 

Alya had of course dashed off as soon as she heard the akuma was nearing the school, grabbing her phone to record the fight for her blog. That suited Marinette just fine, since she needed to transform anyway. Still, she wished Alya would go home instead of running towards the fight.

Since there were still students leaving the school, Marinette glanced around and ducked into an alley to transform. Or, rather, she was about to duck into an alley when she heard someone calling her name.

“—inette, Marinette!”

She turned around to see Chat Noir running toward her, his green eyes wide.

“Marinette. Thank goodness.” He placed his hands on her shoulders. “Listen. Have you seen a hairbrush anywhere near here? It’s blue, I think? It’s really important.”

“Uh, yeah. One almost hit me just now, actually. I think it fell in the bushes over there.” She pointed, relieved when Chat simply smiled at her in relief before tearing off towards the bushes.

As soon as his back was turned, Marinette ran around the corner, opening her purse for Tikki. She glanced around again, making sure no one was around, especially Chat.

Just before she called her transformation, she heard someone say, “I’ll just take that back, thanks.”

It was time to go. “Tikki, spots on!”

As soon as the transformation settled over her, Ladybug ran back to where she had last seen Chat, but he was gone.

“C’mon, c’mon. Where are you?” She muttered as she passed street after street. 

Ladybug grabbed her yo-yo from her waist swung up to the roofs, hoping she could get a better view. She could hear the fight, but never saw anything more than a glimpse of the akuma’s scowl or Chat’s wild hair.

The akuma didn’t seem to really be doing anything to destroy the city, which was weird for an akuma. They were always up in arms about something. However, this one just seemed intent on chasing Chat around the city.

Finally, she caught up to them on a street lined with shops. Chat was wielding his baton like a sword, keeping it extended in front of him defensively as the akuma grinned at him. Neither of them had seen Ladybug yet.

“I hate to end this so soon,” Chat shouted at the akuma, “but I’ve really gotta wrap this up now. Places to go. People to see. My lady to woo. You know how it is, I’m sure.”

Ladybug rolled her eyes. Even when she wasn’t there he was insufferably flirty.

She saw a light post which would be perfect to use to swing down from the roof, but her instincts were telling her to stay put and assess the situation first.

“Enough stalling, stray. I’ll be able to have my revenge on the people who keep messing up my hair soon enough, just as Hawkmoth has promised me.” The akuma tossed back his head and sniffed distastefully. “They don’t appreciate my always changing sense of style. But they’ll learn that change is the best way to stay at the top.”  
He took a few steps towards Chat, grinning now. “First, though, I think I’ll take your miraculous.” 

“Hm. You know, miraculous stealing doesn’t really fit in my schedule. I only have akuma vanquishing penciled in.” Chat lifted his baton higher, ready to strike.

Just as the akuma came in range for Chat to pounce, he started flickering, fading in and out so that at some moments he couldn’t be seen at all. In a blink, he was right next to Chat, getting in his personal space. 

Taken off guard, Chat was too slow to move out of the way before the akuma seized his wrist.

Ladybug’s eyes widened. This akuma was a serious one. She couldn’t waste any time.

“Lucky charm!”

As the light faded, Ladybug’s brows furrowed. The lucky charm was a hairbrush. A very familiar hairbrush. How was she supposed to use this? She turned back to the fight below, mind racing to find an idea.

“Now,” the akuma said, turning Chat’s claw in his hand. “Last time we tried this, you managed to get away.”

Indeed, even as his arm was trapped, Chat was desperately trying to pull back, lunging away from the akuma and kicking at his legs. But it was like the akuma wasn’t standing there at all, Chat’s feet just passed right through.

“I think we’ll need to change the scene a bit.” The akuma snapped his fingers and then they were gone. Chat’s baton the only thing left in the street.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thank you so much for reading this little fic of mine. ^_^ I love these characters so much, so I finally decided to write out some of my ideas for their story. Not sure how long this fic will be yet, but I've got lots of ideas so stay tuned!


	2. Chapter 2

Ladybug started over in her search for the akuma and Chat Noir. 

With the hairbrush attached safely to her waist, and her yo-yo gripped tightly in her hand, she swung throughout the city. She couldn’t hear the battle anymore. There was no sign of Chat or the akuma. 

Even if she could find them, she still had no idea how to use her lucky charm.

Citizens began coming out of their homes and shops. The streets of Paris were unnaturally quiet for an akuma attack. Perhaps they thought that the battle had been won. As they saw Ladybug frantically swinging through Paris, they went back inside.

Ladybug’s earrings began beeping. She only had a few minutes left. She hoped that she still had some cookies in her bag for Tikki so she could transform back right away and find Chat. Ladybug knew that her partner could hold his own in a fight, but she was worried about him.

Her earrings gave their final beep, and she was Marinette again. 

She caught Tikki in her hands to make sure she was alright. 

“Tikki, I used my lucky charm too soon! I can’t find the akuma or Chat anywhere. What if he’s hurt? Or worse, his miraculous already gone, all because I wasn’t there!”  
Tikki looked up tiredly. “Marinette, you’re doing your best. Chat is smart, I’m sure he’s fine. You’ll find him. Besides, you still have what the lucky charm gave you.”

“Yeah, a hairbrush. Wonderful.”

Tikki patted Marinette on the cheek and ducked into her purse in search of food. 

“Please hurry Tikki. I need to transform soon.”

“Uh, Marinette?” Tikki came back out of the purse and looked at Marinette worriedly. “We’re out of cookies.”

“What?” Marinette searched her bag, finding nothing that would help the kwami recharge. “I swear I packed extra! We don’t have time for this!”

She held the bag out for Tikki and took off at a run. Hopefully there was a shop close by where she could buy food fast. 

Marinette turned the first corner and skidded to a stop. There they were. Now she understood why she could no longer hear them.

Chat and the akuma were in a stand-off yet again, silently facing one another to see who would make the first move. Neither of them seemed happy about the situation. 

Chat had managed to break free of the akuma’s grip, but without his staff there wasn’t much he could do to fend of attacks. 

“Where is your little Ladybug anyway? Too scared to face me? Or maybe she just doesn’t care enough about you to bother coming at all,” the akuma sneered. 

“Ladybug is my partner. We trust each other. She’ll be here.”

The certainty in Chat’s voice surprised Marinette. Chat might look confident and tough in that moment to anyone else. But she knew him. She could tell by the swishing of his tail and the darting of his eyes that he was nervous. Scared even. But he still trusted her so completely that he was willing to put himself in the firing line just to buy her some time.  
She couldn’t let him down.

“Well, looks like she’ll be here too late.” The akuma lunged again and Chat swerved, narrowly missed the akuma’s blow, but became trapped between two cars that were parked against the side of the building. Chat looked around for an out, but the only thing near him was a sign for a coffeeshop swinging above them.

With the akuma advancing on Chat again, Marinette knew she couldn’t lose them a second time. She panicked.

The blue plastic hairbrush sailed through the air and hit the akuma with a ‘thunk!’ It happened so fast, Marinette herself could barely process what she had done.

The akuma looked at the hairbrush at his feet. “Hey, wait, this looks just like—”

“Cataclysm!” Chat destroyed the hinges of the sign, and it came crashing down on the akuma’s head. The akuma sunk down to the ground, unconscious.

Chat dragged the akuma over to the wall and sat him up against it. He wedged the sign between him and the cars. The akuma was trapped for now, though Chat knew it wouldn’t hold for even ten seconds if the akuma woke up. But that didn’t matter though, because Ladybug was there and could fix everything.

Chat grabbed the real akumatized object and turned in her direction, still looking at the akuma to make sure he stayed put.

“My Lady, I—Marinette?”

She waved half-heartedly. “Hi, Chat.”

He blinked rapidly, like he didn’t trust what his eyes were seeing. “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you at home?”

Marinette scrambled for an excuse. Something. Anything. 

“Well, you see. I, uh, remembered that you had been looking for a blue hairbrush. And on my way home I found one, and I thought that it might be the one you were looking for. Because you had said it was important. The hairbrush I mean. So, I, uh, I grabbed it. I wasn’t sure if it was the one you needed, but I figured I’d bring it with me anyway.”

Chat didn’t say anything. He just stood there, the hairbrush still in his hands.

“And I was on my way home. And then I found you here. Right, I found you, and it looked like you needed help. So, I threw it.”

“You threw a blue plastic hairbrush. At an akuma.”

“Well, yeah. I guess I did.”

Chat looked around, presumably for Ladybug. “Wait, don’t you live on the other side of the city? What are you doing over here?”

Marinette blinked. “I wanted to take the scenic route.”

Chat shook his head. “Okay. Well, have you seen Ladybug? I can’t get rid of this akuma without her.”

“You know, I think I did see her. I’m sure she’ll be here soon.”

Chat’s eyes came back to Marinette. “Really? Where?”

Marinette looked at the ground, her foot shuffling back and forth. “I don’t remember. Somewhere over there I guess.” She pointed randomly, behind her and to the left. Chat’s eyes followed her arm, scanning the rooftops as if he could suddenly make her appear.

“Well, I’m going to continue on my way home now.” Marinette turned away, raising a hand in farewell. “See you later, Chat.”

Chat was still facing the way Marinette had pointed. “Goodbye, Princess. And thank you.”

Marinette nodded and walked quickly away. She slipped under the awning of a shop, taking a deep breath. The akuma was still trapped. They weren’t safe yet. She had to focus.

She looked at the name of the shop. It was a store that would definitely have cookies.

Luckily, Marinette had a few dollars on her in case she and Alya decided to get sodas or ice cream after they studied. There was no one in the store as she walked in, so she opened a bag of cookies for Tikki and left some money on the counter.

She transformed as soon as Tikki was ready, ran out of the shop, and back the way Chat had been.

He was still by the same street, pacing on the rooftop above where the akuma was trapped.

“Chat!” Ladybug called as soon as she was close enough for him to hear.

He jumped and looked in her direction. Relief washing over his features.

“Ladybug! Where were you today? Did something happen?” 

He didn’t sound angry. Shouldn’t he be angry? Ladybug didn’t know what to say.

“I’m so sorry Chat. I got here as soon as I could. My transformation ran out and I didn’t have any food for my kwami.”

“Why did your transformation run out? I didn’t see you at all before.”

She held one arm in the other at her side, looking away from Chat as she told the story, leaving out the fact that she had run into him as Marinette. Twice.

He scratched the back of his neck. “Well, I wish that you had come down earlier so that I at least knew you were here. But, I’m glad you’re okay. I managed to get the akumatized object away and trap him.” He pointed to the street below. “He’s down there.”

“I’m impressed, Kitty.” Ladybug took the hairbrush from Chat and broke it. As the akuma fluttered out, she trapped it in her yo-yo. “No more evil doing for you.” 

She looked at Chat nervously. “Um, have you seen another hairbrush around here? That’s what I got when I used lucky charm, but I lost it when I detransformed and had to find food for my kwami.”

He looked surprised. “Oh, I didn’t realize your lucky charm could stay after you detransformed. I guess it’s still in the street. A civilian found it, actually.”

Ladybug tried to look surprised. “A civilian?”

Chat smiled. “Yeah. Marinette. I think you mentioned you know her? She was awesome.”

Something churned in Ladybug’s stomach at the way he smiled as he said that, but she didn’t understand why.

They made their way down to the street and found the hairbrush, which was lying not too far from where the akuma had been trapped. 

Ladybug picked up the hairbrush tossed it in the air. “Miraculous Ladybug!”

Light flooded the streets of Paris, correcting all the damage that had been done and reverting the akuma back to a very disoriented teenage boy. 

Chat held his fist out. Ladybug rose hers to meet it.

“Pound it!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Casually tries to include a not-so-subtle Percy Jackson reference.* Yayyy another akuma has been defeated. (Also, why did no one tell me akuma fights are ridiculously hard to write?!) Next up is some MariChat because I have no self control. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

The sun setting as Ladybug landed on her balcony and flopped down onto her bed through her skylight, releasing her transformation as soon as she was out of sight.

Tikki flew over to Marinette’s desk, where the extra cookies Marinette thought she had packed in her bag were sitting.

Marinette stretched and looked over to where Tikki was happily munching. “Today was close, Tikki. Way too close.”

Tikki looked at Marinette warily. “It all worked out in the end, Marinette. Chat’s okay.”

“I’m not worried about Chat. I’m worried about Hawkmoth! The akumas are getting way too close to getting our miraculous! The akuma today had several chances to capture Chat’s today. And heaven knows I’ve had close calls in the past.” Just the thought made her shiver.

“You and Chat are a great team, Marinette. When you two work together, no akuma stands a chance at winning.”

“Thanks, Tikki. You’re right.” She hopped off her bed and started looking around for her sketchbook. Designing always helped her get out of a mood. Marinette sighed, “I just wish there were like ten of us sometimes.”

Marinette found her sketchbook and brought it to her chaise. She was just putting the finishing touches on a new design when she heard a tapping on her skylight. Frowning, she set her sketchbook and pencil down and went to open the trapdoor. 

“Darn pigeons,” she muttered under her breath. 

Marinette opened her skylight shouting, “Shoo! Shoo!” and waving her arms.

She startled someone alright, but it wasn’t a pigeon. 

“Chat?” Marinette looked at the hero, now crouched against the banister and as far from the skylight as possible. It was dark enough now that she almost couldn’t see him, if not for his eyes glittering in the night.

She climbed out onto the balcony and offered him a hand. “Sorry. I thought you were a pigeon.”

Chat took her hand and straightened, reclaiming his bravado charm instantly. 

Letting go of her hand, he bowed. “Princess, I think you’ll find I’m much more handsome than a pigeon.” He frowned. “Much better company, too. Pigeons are the worst.”

Marinette tried not to roll her eyes at the nickname. He had called her that once, years ago, and every time she saw him as Marinette he brought it back up again. 

She crossed her arms. “And why do you hate pigeons so much, Chat? Sure, they’re annoying, but I don’t know if I’d call them ‘the worst.’”

He looked around as if one would show up just for this conversation. “I’m allergic to feathers, so I consider them the worst. They’re everywhere. I can’t stop sneezing whenever I’m near one.”

That’s right. Marinette remembered one of the first akumas they ever faced could control pigeons, and tried to use them to take over Paris. She had forgotten that Chat had sneezed throughout that entire fight.

“Well, there aren’t any pigeons around here tonight. What are you doing here anyway?”

Chat looked down at his feet, tucking his hands behind his back. “I wanted to come make sure you were okay. And thank you, for what you did earlier.”

“I’m okay, Chat. Really. But you don’t need to thank me. I didn’t do anything.”

He looked up at her. “Didn’t do anything? Marinette, you threw a hairbrush at an akuma today!”

When Marinette was quiet, Chat sighed and ran his hands through his hair, messing it up even more. “I just. You, you’re a civilian. You’re not supposed to have to fight for us like that.”

Civilian. Right. In Chat’s eyes, Marinette wasn’t supposed to not be phased by throwing things at akumas. Marinette was supposed to be scared of akumas. Scared of fighting.

“It’s okay, Chat. It was a little scary, thinking that you were in trouble and I couldn’t do much about it. But everyone needs help sometimes. Even superheroes.”

He smiled at that. “Yeah, I guess we do. And I suppose I should have remembered you were never scared of akumas. After all, we did fight the Evillustrator together.” 

Marinette nodded, remembering that night clearly. Luckily, she hadn’t had to do anything like that again in the years since.

Chat spun his tail around in his hands a few times, looking around Marinette’s balcony. “You know, I’ve been here a few times, but I don’t remember you having so many plants.

She giggled, looking at the new potted flowers that now surrounded her table and chair. “I guess I have acquired quite a few recently. Alya went through a gardening phase but the plants were dying so she gave them to me. She said I have a green thumb and had to revive her plants as a matter of life and death.”

Chat walked over to the chair and sat down. “Well, she’s not wrong.” He put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. “I like it up here. Purrfect for Chat naps.”

Marinette narrowed her eyes. “Was that two puns in one sentence?”

“Indeed it was my friend, just one of the purrks of my company.”

“Okay, it’s cheating to keep using the same one!”

“I pounce on every oppurrtunity, Princess.”

Marinette laughed and shook her head. “I have a right mind to banish you from my balcony if you keep this up.”

Chat stood up and walked over to the railing. “Meow-ch. You might just be an even harsher critic than My Lady. But don’t worry, I’ve gotta get going anyway.”

He climbed over the railing, then turned back to Marinette, a smirk on his face. “See you around, Purrincess.” 

She scoffed, and held up a hand. “See you around.”

With that, Chat gave Marinette a salute and jumped out into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, lovely readers! Thanks for the sweet comments and kudos, I'm glad you guys are liking this so far!  
> Let's catch up with the whole gang in the next chapter, shall we?  
> Follow me on Tumblr @ fangirl-writes-tmblr :D


	4. Chapter 4

For once, Marinette was on time for school. Early even.

Marinette smiled and waved at Mylene when she entered the classroom. Nathaniel was the only other student in the room. He hadn’t even looked up, instead scribbling furiously in his sketchbook.

Marinette sat down and pulled out her own sketchbook.

She had thought a lot about her talk with Chat last night after he left. If only he knew that she was in fact Ladybug, he might have been more willing to accept her help. She sighed. A lot of things would be easier if he knew. 

Marinette had started to wonder what Chat was like outside of the mask. It was something she didn’t let herself think about often, as it was pointless since they couldn’t reveal their identities. She knew that. But she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t curious, and she’d become even more so over the years of having him as her crime-fighting partner.

She considered Ladybug to be more or less the same as Marinette, just a lot more confident and focused. It was still her after all. 

But Chat’s personality was so over the top sometimes. The teasing. The flirting. It was hard to imagine Chat without his care-free demeanor, so she assumed he was much the same in real life. Last night had been one of the few times she had seen a more serious side to him, and it always surprised her.

Her mind had gone to thinking about what Chat would actually look like in real life, without the mask. What he’d wear, how he’d act. She imagined they would be great friends. They already were. She had created a design for him in her head, and she was anxious to get it down on paper.

While Marinette was lost to her work, Nino came through the door, along with several other of their classmates. He had his headphones on, nodding his head along to the beat of his most recent mix. He raised his eyebrows when he saw Marinette was early to class, but seeing she was busy working, he didn’t comment.

Adrien came in just a minute later, and not even his arrival caught Marinette’s attention.

“Hey dude.” Nino greeted, holding out his fist.

Adrien bumped it. “Hey.” He slid his backpack off his shoulder and set it on the floor. “Is that a new mix?”

“Yeah! I just finished putting it together last night, so this is my first time listening to the whole thing.”

“That’s great, man! You’ll have to send me a copy.” Adrien glanced at the girl behind him, surprised she hadn’t said anything to him yet. She usually said hello to him in the mornings. 

“Good morning, Marinette!” He smiled his most friendly smile. Even though he considered them friends, he knew that she could still be a little jumpy around him. Especially when he startled her.

True to form, Marinette dropped her pencil and looked up at him with wide eyes. “Hi, Adrien. Good morning, I mean, to you too.”

“Is that a new design you’re working on?” He had gotten better at initiating conversation with her over the years, but he still wished he knew her better than he did.

Marinette blinked, surprised at the question. “Um, yeah.” She grabbed the pencil again and started tapping it on the desk. “I just was thinking about Ladybug and Chat Noir I guess. You know, after the akuma attack yesterday. I’ve designed a few changes for their suits before, but I got thinking about something they’d wear, you know, like in real life.”

While she had talked, Adrien had turned her sketchbook around so he could see it better.

He raised his eyebrows as he looked it over. Her design was of him. Well, it was of Chat Noir.

She had drawn a small, simple sketch of Chat in the suit and mask to one side of the page, which was clearly used as her reference for the main design. 

Much bigger, and in the center of the page, was Chat again, but in civilian clothes. He wore a dark green V-neck t-shirt, with a small black pawprint on the breast pocket. His jeans were a faded black, slightly ripped but not obnoxiously so, and rolled at the cuffs. The shoes were thick black sneakers, similar but not as heavy as the boots of the suit. There was also a button up jacket, the same black as the jeans and rolled up to the elbows. 

It was definitely something Adrien would wear.

Marinette had drawn civilian Chat's hair just as wild, and drawn a light shadow over his eyes and nose as an illusion of his mask.

“This is amazing, Marinette. You’re really talented!”

“Thanks, Adrien.” She frowned at the sketch. “I just wish I could incorporate the bell somehow. Having it as big as it is on his suit doesn’t really fit with this design, but I feel like it should be still be included somehow.”

Adrien looked the design over again, and then pointed to Sketch Chat’s wrist. “You know, you could add a black strap as a bracelet. Put a smaller bell or even just a design of one on that.” He tapped a finger on the page a few times. “I think Chat would be really into something like that.”

Marinette blinked. She could totally see Chat smirking over a sneaky little detail like that. He’d think it was so clever. 

Marinette beamed at Adrien. “That’s a great idea!” 

She began making the changes right then. She was just getting back into her design groove when Alya burst through the door. She had been the only student who hadn’t arrived yet.

“Wow girl, I can’t believe I’m the late one for once. When did we switch places?” Alya dumped her bag onto the floor beside the desk and pulled out her phone.

“I’ve been so busy updating the Ladyblog. Things have been crazy since yesterday!”

Marinette frowned. “They have? What happened?”

Nino and Adrien turned toward Alya as well, wanting to hear her answer too.

“Didn’t you guys notice something different about yesterday’s akuma?” Alya asked. “I’ve been writing non-stop about it since the attack.”  
Nino shrugged.

“I mean, the akuma came close to getting Chat’s miraculous,” Adrien frowned. “But that was the only thing I noticed.”

Alya shook her head quickly, speaking so fast it she could barely be understood. “No, no, no, it’s more than that. What got this akuma all upset in the first place? His friends were teasing him about his hair. A year ago, that would have meant that his akuma’s powers were something like giving everyone in Paris a bad makeover or forcing them to feel their insecurities much more than normal. No big deal. Paris would be in distress, but it wouldn’t be too hard for Ladybug and Chat Noir to take him down, as his powers don’t affect them so much.”

“Are you saying the akuma should have been weaker than he was?” Since Marinette was gone for much of the fight, she wasn’t really sure what the akuma’s powers had been to begin with. 

Alya looked over. “Girl. The akuma could literally phase through anything and he could teleport. And for no reason! At least when Troublemaker had similar powers, that made sense. This akuma was strong, when he had no reason to be.”

“Okay,” Nino nodded distractedly, looking towards the door for their teacher, who hadn’t arrived yet. “But there have been strong akumas like this before. Like Troublemaker, as you mentioned. Or Volpina, or Prime Queen. They were pretty good too.”

“It’s not just that the akuma was strong. Did you guys notice any destruction or even disruption in Paris yesterday?”

They shook their heads. Marinette remembered thinking that was odd yesterday, but she had been too focused on getting to Chat to really think about it.

“That’s because there wasn’t any,” Alya continued. “No people running around scared. No vandalism. Nothing. It was just quiet. Except for the few streets where the fight took place, you could barely tell there was an akuma attack going on at all.”

Adrien was frowning. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

“Don’t you guys see? Hawkmoth was able to get the akuma’s attention to focus solely on taking Chat’s miraculous. I didn’t get to see most of the fight, as they kept disappearing, but that much was clear.” Alya paused, looking each of her friends in the eye. “Hawkmoth’s akumas are getting stronger. But not only that, Hawkmoth has figured out a way to get them to ignore their need for revenge and just go after the miraculous. That can’t be good. Not good at all.”

She pulled her phone over to where all of them could see. “I mean, just look at—”

But their teacher chose just that moment to walk through the door of the classroom, her chipper “Good morning, students!” making all four teens jump.

Alya sighed and put her phone back in her pocket. “I’m just starting to get worried for Ladybug and Chat Noir, that’s all.”

Nino and Adrien nodded, and turned to face the board, as their teacher had begun writing notes for the lesson. 

“What will happen to the rest of us if they get hurt?” Alya muttered, but only Marinette heard her.

What would happen? Marinette wondered. She tried to turn her attention to the lesson. But her thoughts kept returning to Alya’s words, or to Chat’s civilian design, now tucked away in her backpack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Miraculous Anniversary, lovely readers!! (And first day of Hogwarts term.) Thank you so much for all your wonderful comments and support--it has blown me away!  
> I won't be posting quite as often as I did those first few chapters, as college starts back up in a few days. I want this fic to be the best it can be, so please be patient. I definitely won't abandon this, and I'll post as often as I can. Lots more in store!  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! <3  
> Time for some patrol I think, yes?


End file.
